


Three Words Have Two Meanings

by BrokenLullabye



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-11-12 17:12:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11166369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenLullabye/pseuds/BrokenLullabye
Summary: “Are you Lewis?” Louis looks up at the door he hadn’t heard open, eyeing the person skeptically. He’s tall, taller than Louis at least, well muscled, and looking at Louis with a dopey grin. And he’s holding a moving box. Louis groans.“It’s Louis,” he corrects, agitation clear in his voice.“Oh, sorry mate,” the man moves fully into the room, still beaming at Louis. “I’m Liam by the way, your new roommate. Let’s have a great year, yeah?”Louis groans again, laying back down. He decided he hates Liam.(Or Liam is Louis' new roommate and Louis decides he hates the new boy.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, I just love Lilo and Narry, so I decided writing a story about them. This is only the second fic I've ever written and it's shaping up to be longer. This is just kind of introduction though. Please let me know what you think.
> 
> Title from Lego House by Ed Sheeran

Louis hates Zayn.

Okay, so maybe hate is too strong of a word. But Louis is definitely not happy with him. How could he be now that Zayn has abandoned him for some stupid art school. 

Louis puts his last box on the floor of his new dorm room. He looks around, two beds, two desks, bare white walls, carpet from the last century and a mini fridge that emphasizes the word mini. An exact replica of the room he and Zayn shared last year.

That’s the real problem. He came to university last year a fresh faced eighteen year old, finally free from his small town and for the first time in a place where no one knew who he was. Now Louis never had a problem making friends, he was loud, cheeky, and loved to be the center of attention. He made it his job to be known by everyone at least in some capacity. But roommates were a different story. The thought of having to spend all year in each other’s space and never being able to get a private moment annoyed him. He had enough of people snooping through his stuff just growing up with so many younger sisters, and now it was going to be some stranger.

Last year he won the roommate lottery. He and Zayn quickly bonded over their love of music and fell into an easy friendship. Living with him was like a constant sleepover with your best mate rather than an inconvenience. But then Zayn decided to up and transfer to some art conservatory school on the other fucking side of the country.

To be fair, Harry, the curly headed dimpled kid from his first year English class, had offered to share a room with him. Louis almost took him up on it too. Harry was a nice kid and Louis liked him from the moment he sat next to him and started telling him a story about his time working in a bakery. Within the first couple weeks of class, they acted like they’ve been friends for years. He listened to all of Harry talk all semester about “that cute Irish boy that lived down the hall and whose smile was brighter than the sun”. Louis had cheered when his scheme to get the two together actually worked out.

Which is exactly why he couldn’t take Harry up on his offer. Harry and Niall had been able to get one of the few two person apartment style dorms on campus by the time Zayn told him he was leaving. Even though Harry offered to switch rooms, Louis was Niall’s friend too and wouldn’t feel right leaving him out like that. Plus, Harry and Niall were so damn cute together he couldn’t take away their chance to live all proper domestic like. So he would be left at the mercy of the roommate lottery once again.

Louis kicks the box at his feet, not really wanting to unpack yet. He flops down on the bed closest to the window despite the fact that there are no sheets on it. He sends Harry a quick text to call him once he moves in and spends some time scrolling through Twitter. 

“Are you Lewis?” Louis looks up at the door he hadn’t heard open, eyeing the person skeptically. He’s tall, taller than Louis at least, well muscled, and looking at Louis with a dopey grin. And he’s holding a moving box. Louis groans.

“It’s Louis,” he corrects, agitation clear in his voice. 

“Oh, sorry mate,” the man moves fully into the room, still beaming at Louis. “I’m Liam by the way, your new roommate. Let’s have a great year, yeah?”

Louis groans again, laying back down. He decided he hates Liam.


	2. Chapter 2

“Mate, I just don’t get it. Why do you hate this guy?” Niall said as he leans on the counter next to Louis. 

Louis rolls his eyes “He’s horrible, that’s why. Just the worst.” He reaches out to grab a piece of mozzarella from the plate Harry’s working on, only to have his hand slapped back with a glare.

“It’s been like two weeks, I’m sure he’s just fine. I mean, you’re not exactly the perfect roommate yourself.” Harry says as he turns his attention back to the pots on the stove. 

Bringing his hand up in mock offence, Louis lets out a huff. “Excuse you Harold, I’m an absolute delight.” At the words, both the other boys start laughing. Louis glances between the two, sticking his tongue out.

Niall clasps his hand on Louis’s back trying to get his laughter under control “Come on Lou, I mean, you’re a great guy and all but I would never want to live with you. Just look around, you’ve been here for less than an hour and this place is already a right mess.” The blonde gestures to the shoes kicked off in the doorway, the jacket thrown haphazardly on the chair, and the cup of tea Louis got halfway through before declaring it was past the optimal temperature.

Never one to admit defeat, Louis just sticks out his tongue at the claim. “You’re one to talk, I saw you room last year, you’re no better.” 

“True, but that’s why I have Harry.” Niall says moving behind his boyfriend and hooking his chin on the other’s shoulder. “Well, that and the food.” He adds playfully. Louis pretends to gags at their sickenley sweet domesticity.

Harry pointedly ignores Louis and gives Niall a quick peck on the cheek. “Speaking of, get some plates, dinner’s just about done.”

*******************

Louis doesn’t know what time it is when he leaves Harry’s and Niall’s, only that it’s much later than he originally planned. He also knows that he may have had a bit too much of that, fruity wine Harry put out.

All he wants to do now is crash in his bed and not get up until afternoon tomorrow, preferably late afternoon. But first, he has the long walk across campus back to his dorm. 

While he walks, he thinks back to main topic of conversation from the night, Liam. It was hard to put into words exactly why he hated the boy, though he tried multiple times to explain it to the others. There are just too many things and the feeling was too immediate. 

There are the small things, like pronouncing his name wrong a couple times. Or the Disney posters he put up on his side of the room. The music he listens to in the shower when Louis is trying to sleep. And of course, that annoying little birthmark on his neck.

But then there’s the other things he does. Like the early morning jogs multiple times a week. Or how he’ll talk to Louis for ages in that weird rambling way that, even though he hardly ever listens, never seems to have a point. Or when he was writing an essay, he kept asking if things were words or he just made them up. Plus he had a mini freak out when Louis left his cereal bowl and spoon in the room sink a couple days ago.

And so many other things Louis can’t even think of but absolutely drive him crazy, all leading to an unadulterated loathing for the boy. One that made him seriously consider moving out, and if it hadn’t meant packing up all his things again, he just might have.

Yet, when he tried to explain this feeling, so clear in his own mind, to his friends, they could not understand. Niall laughed and said he was just missing Zayn and Harry looked at him with a quirked eyebrow and rolling eyes. When they finally did send him on his way earlier at the end of the night, they even told him to give Liam a chance, as if his very existence in Louis’ space isn’t enough to frustrate him to no end.

With a sigh, Louis climbed the four flights of stairs to his dorm room. Maybe if he just ignored Liam long enough the other boy would get the message and the two could live with no contact. He pledged to do just that, in the morning because all Louis wants right now is to sleep.

Liam looked up at him from his bed when Louis entered the room. Louis groaned, despite the late hour, Liam still looked bright eyed. He trudged over to his own bed, throwing himself down deciding that it would be too much effort to get changed now and he really didn’t care if his clothes got wrinkled anyway.

But before Louis could drift off, he was distracted by the sound of bedsprings as Liam climbed off his bed to stand by Louis’. “Hey Louis, I know it’s late, but we have to fill out the roommate agreement for Paul before tomorrow.” Liam said producing said contract from behind his back. 

Louis groaned in annoyance and shuffled closer in on himself intent to start his plan of ignoring the boy early. Liam rolled his eyes and tried again, frustration evident in his voice. “Really Lou, this has to be turned in or the RA will have our head. We should have done it days ago but you’ve been putting it off.” He reached out to shake Louis’s shoulder gently and added a bit softer, “It really shouldn’t take that long, we just need to get it done”.

Louis sighed and sat up. He started pulling off his shoes, still refusing to look at the other boy. After a minute of silence Louis grumbled “Well let’s get this over with, I want to go to sleep soon.”

Liam open his mouth as if he was going to say something in retaliation, but decided against it. He sat down at his desk with the form and pulled out a pen. “Okay, names, Liam Payne and Louis… What’s your last name again?”

Louis grounded and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Tomlinson.”

“Right, right. I knew that” Liam replied as he wrote. “Room, 422, Case building. Okay, the room will be cleaned daily, weekly, monthly, or as needed?” He looked up at Louis waiting for an answer. Instead, he just got a blank stare. “I’ll just put as needed, okay? Windows will be kept open, closed, depends on the weather, depends on the time, or no preference?”

Louis glared at the windows as if it was their fault that he had to do this. He already stayed out later than he meant to and he knew that if he didn’t get to sleep soon he would wake up with a massive headache. “I’m pretty sure these windows don’t even open.”

Walking over to the windows, Liam frowned at them and tried to open them up. When he had no success, he turned back to Louis and said with a laugh, “Well, I guess they’ll be closed then”. Louis stared at him blankly until he sat back down.

Liam cleared his throat and continued. “The following personal belongings can be used by the other always, never, or with permission: clothes, computer, food, game system…”

“Look,” Louis said, cutting Liam off mid sentence. “How about we just say that you’ll stay in your area and I’ll stay in mine. At least then we won’t annoy each other as much as we already do.”

Liam looked at him, shock and confusion plain on his face. He shrugged and turned back to the form filling out the appropriate boxes silently. Louis smirked in triumph and rolled over pulling the blanket over him as he did so.

But for the second time before he could fall asleep, he was distracted by Liam moving next to his bed. He opened one eye and glared at the boy. “It needs your signature.” Louis reached out a hand to take the pen and scribbled something that resembled his name on the line Liam was indicating.

“Also,” Liam said glancing over the form “we need a type of roommate signal”.

Louis slowly blinked up at him, the warmth of his bed sinking into his body making it even harder to pay attention to the boy. “I literally have no idea what you’re talking about.” He said after a beat.

“This last part here,” Liam said shortly, pointing to the part of the form just above the signatures. “It says we have to make up a signal incase we are in an uncomfortable or dangerous situation. Like if I have a friend over and you want him to leave or your out and need me to come and get you.”

Liam paused for a second to see if Louis would respond, but when the silence grew longer, he gave his own suggestion. “I think we should have a code word.”

“A code word.” Louis repeated, deadpan.

“Yeah, then we’ll be like spies or something.” Liam said getting a bit excited now. “But it has to be something that we wouldn’t use in regular conversation so that we don’t say it by accident, like artichoke, or quail, or roomie.”

“I would never call you ‘roomie’.” Louis said seriously.

Now it was Liam’s turn to roll his eyes. “That’s the whole point, isn’t it? It has to be something you would never use in any other situation.”

Louis stared at the boy standing next to him. He looked way to happy about the idea of a shared code word between the two of them making his eyes do that crinkly thing when he smiled. Louis pulled his covers over his head and rolled over, letting out a muffled, “fine, do whatever you want”. 

Liam smiled and returned to his own side of the room. “Good, ‘roomie’ it is then. This is cool, now its like we have our own secret. We’re like proper roommates.”

With one final groan at the thought of having yet another connection to this irritating boy, Louis finally was able to drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read the first part of this. It really means a lot to me. And please let me know if you have any suggestions for this story, or criticisms, or anything really.


	3. Chapter 3

It’s barely a month into the semester, but Louis is already sick of the routine. His classes this year are much more demanding than his past ones, so he had to spend a lot more time studying. This means spending more time in the library; which is already a congregating place for his stressed out peers. 

He would rather spend the time in his own room, but Liam made that nearly impossible. Not only did he often have his music playing, he also couldn’t seem to grasp the concept of reading in his head and was always muttering to himself. Honestly, their whole relationship has only deteriorated as time went on. Now it seems like everything Liam does sets Louis off and once they get going neither boy holds back. Usually their arguments end in yelling and either Liam stalking off for a run or Louis rushing out to find Harry and Niall to vent.

Suffice to say, his second year of college has not been the most relaxing. This is why Louis is glad that it’s Saturday and he has film club. The club meets in the back room of the top floor of the union and is composed of only a dozen or so students, half of which are film buffs while the others are just there to kill some time before the bars open. All they do at the meetings is watch a movie and then talk about it either as a group or in pairs. It’s relaxing, gets him out of his room, and gives him an excuse to watch movies; in short, it’s exactly the thing Louis needs right now.

When Louis enters the room, he sits next to a group of students from his class who were talking about their latest assignments. “What do you think of the paper for Dr. Chadwick’s class, Louis?” One of the girls asks him.

The boy next to her, Justin, snorts. Justin has been in nearly all his classes so far and thought very little of Louis after he got caught in the middle of a prank-gone-wrong back in their first term. “You're wasting your time asking him, he probably hasn’t even started it yet, if he does it at all.”

Louis glares at the boy. Even though he enjoys partying as much as the next guy, he always takes his work seriously. “I’ll have you know I already finished the paper. Unlike some people, I don’t need to bribe the TA to save me from flunking.”

Justin’s eyes narrow at the accusation and he opens his mouth to retaliate, but Louis is already walking to the other side of the room. He comes to this club to relax, not to waste his time arguing with someone like Justin.

He sits next to a guy he’s never seen before, who looks up from his phone. “Hey, I’m TJ.” The boy says, extending his hand. Louis forces himself not to roll his eyes at the name, he never understood people that only go by their initials. Instead, he takes in the boy. He has black hair, ice-blue eyes, and is quite fit.

Louis shakes his hand and smiles, “Nice to meet you, I’m Louis.” TJ smiles, revealing his sharp row of perfectly white teeth. He holds on to Louis’ hand a bit longer than necessary, staring at Louis.

Someone clears their throat in the front of the room and both boys turn to listen to the president of the club introduce this week’s movie. During the movie, as per club rules, everyone remains quiet. Although Louis does notice TJ resting his leg against Louis’ own. 

After the movie, the room fills with chatter. Louis looks over at the group of his classmates and contemplates joining their conversation. TJ turns towards Louis and gives him another white smile. “So what did you think?”

Louis lets out a dramatic sigh, “It was okay, but to be honest it just made me want to watch the original War of the Worlds”.

TJ nods in agreement. “Me too, the 1953 version, right? That one’s a classic. I don’t really agree with Tom Cruise as the lead in this, and what’s with the aliens coming from underground?”

“I know! I don’t understand remakes that are worse than the original.” Louis smiles, happy to have someone agree with his opinion for once. “I’m really going to have to rewatch the old one or it’ll just annoy me.”

“Yea, me too, but I always hate watching movies alone.” TJ says, resting one arm on the back of Louis’ chair, a playful smirk on his lips.

Louis raises an eyebrow and gives the boy in front of him another once over. He smirks in reply, never one to turn down a bit of harmless flirting. “I get that, it’s one of the reasons I joined this in the first place.” 

“Maybe we should watch it together then?” TJ says expectantly.

“Maybe”

***************

Twenty minutes later, Louis is walking out of the union with a smile on his face. He and TJ had flirted a bit then talked about their classes until the club dismissed. He learned that TJ was in school for meteorology, which Louis had to hold back a snort. Seriously though, did people really need to go to school for four years to be a weatherman?

The buzzing of his phone broke Louis’ thoughts. Looking down he sees a text from Harry.

Harry: Meet at Fresh in 10?

Louis replies with a quick ‘ok’ and turns around towards the dining hall on the other side of campus.

When he gets there, he makes up his tray and fights through the crowd of people to the table Harry and Niall claimed near the window. He sits down across from the couple and smiles in greeting.

“Hey Lou,” Harry says putting down his fork. “How’s everything going?”

“Is the semester over yet? I swear these professors are trying to kill me.” Louis says exasperated.

Harry shakes his head, “School just started, Louis. And I doubt anyone’s trying to kill you.”

“Oh naive young Harold, don’t you know? They’re all in on it; it’s a whole conspiracy. This whole school is a uniquely made torture device designed to be the death of me.” Louis replies, dramatically throwing his arms up and covering his eyes with his arm.

Niall laughs out loud, nearly spitting his drink across the table. Harry just rolls his eyes, use to Louis’ antics, but Louis can see the corner of his lip twitch up. Louis smiles with pride. Then he catches something behind the others and his eyes narrow.

Niall, having got his laughing under control looks behind him in confusion. “What’s wrong Lou?”

“Liam.” He says, pointing to the brown haired boy. “I see enough of the boy in my room, now he’s here.”

Harry glances back at the boy then turns his attention on his friend. “Well this is the dining hall. Are you guys still fighting?”

“Still? I don’t think we ever stopped. I was fine with just ignoring him, but it’s like he purposely tries to find new ways to annoy me. I hate him.” 

Niall looks between the glaring Louis and Liam, then stands up and shouts “Hey Liam! Over here.”

Louis’ eyes dart to the blonde and says, through gritted teeth, “What do you think you’re doing? Why would you call him over?”

“Oh come on, the place is packed and we have an extra chair.” Niall replies, still motioning for Liam to come. “Besides, we haven’t met him yet and if you’re going to keep complaining, then I need to at least speak to him once.”

Louis continues to scowl, but bites his tongue as Liam steps up to their table. Liam looks nervously between Louis and the other two. “Umm, hi.”

“Hi Liam, I’m Niall, Louis’ friend. This is my boyfriend Harry.” Harry nods in acknowledgment while Louis pointedly stares at him food. “Do you want to sit down?”

Liam looks around the room as if trying to find an escape, before giving them a small smile. “Uh, thanks. I don’t think I would have been able to find a spot in here.”

He sits in the empty seat next to Louis and a heavy silence fills the group. After a minute or so, Harry breaks it. “So Liam, Louis says you go running a lot, do you want to go into athletics at all?”

Louis snorts a Harry’s poor attempt at conversation. Liam glares quickly at him, the turns his attention back to Harry. “Not really. Actually, I’m not sure what I want to go into yet. I’m taking classes in nearly everything. A couple English, a business class, music, even psychiatry.” 

Liam knits his eyebrows together and frowns, “Is that the word? Psychiatry? I think I may have made that up.”

Niall laughs, “Psychiatry’s a word, mate.”

“Oh is it? That’s good. Sometimes I do that you know. Make up words. And I’m horrible at spelling too. I used to spell licorice with a ‘q’ in it…” Liam continues to ramble to himself while Harry and Niall just stare blankly at him.

“Have you quite finished?” Louis snaps. The two boys intensely stare each other down and Louis can feel the tension in his body growing. 

Harry and Niall exchange a worried look and Niall tries to diffuse the situation, “Well anyway, you’re taking a music class? Me too, I’m in guitar-“

“What’s your problem Louis? You’re the one that called me over here.” Liam snaps back at Louis, not paying the other two any attention.

“Why would I want to sit with you? It’s bad enough that I have to share a room with you. Trust me, calling you over was all their idea.” Louis gestures wildly to Harry and Niall, nearly knocking over his cup in the process. “Why’d you come over anyway? Or do you just not have any friends of your own?”

“I came over because I thought you might have grown up a bit and realized we have to live together for a couple months at least. But sorry, I forgot, your default is just to be a prick to everyone, even the people you’ve just met.” Liam’s face is turning red as he struggles to keep from shouting the words.   
Louis’ face twists with anger; “Well maybe if you didn’t wake me up at dawn every morning, I would have a bit more patience.”

“It’s called having a healthy sleep schedule, maybe you should try it sometime instead of stumbling home in the middle of the night.” 

“That’s enough.” Harry says, softly but with force. Louis and Liam continue to glare at each other, but don’t say anymore. 

After a minute Liam gets up, throws away the rest of his food, and leaves. Louis slumps his head into his hands, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly tired.

“Sorry, I didn’t think it would be that bad.” Niall says gently, still wearing a shocked expression. “But seriously, what was that?”

Louis sighs looking up at his friends. “I told you, I hate him and he hates me.”

“Louis, you know I’m your friend, probably you best friend, but you and Liam really need to talk. This isn’t healthy and I think you both might need to work some things out.” Harry says, keeping his voice a slow drawl.

“What could we possibly have to work out?” Louis stares at his friend in confusion.

Harry opens his mouth then closes it again, shaking his head. “Just think about it, ok?” He stands and motions to Niall who follows him out of the dining hall with a quick ‘goodbye’ to Louis.

Left alone at the table, Louis does think. He thinks about how this was supposed to be his day without stress. He thinks about his crazy friends and how Harry, although wrong about talking to Liam, might have been right that these fights aren’t healthy. This fight wasn’t any worse than any others, if anything it was better since they were in a public place, though he is exhausted.

But mostly Louis thinks about the ever-growing list of reasons why Liam is frustrating. A list that Louis has found himself thinking about and adding to every day recently, sometimes even multiple times a day.

When Louis finally emerges from his own thoughts, the dining hall is nearly empty any the moon rising in the sky. Louis looks down at his now cold food, but despite it being only half eaten, he throws it away. His stomach isn’t feeling great anyway.

He leaves the dining hall into the chilled night and decides to take a walk, and maybe find a bar, before heading to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taking so long with updates, I had something unexpected come up that I had to deal with. I hope that it won't be as long for the next part. Please let me know what you think and if you have any ideas for the story, I'm kind of in between two now. Also, I'll probably be updating the tags more before the next part.
> 
> Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some rape/non-con in it. The actions themselves are not very specific, but please take care. If it will hurt you in anyway, please do not read this. You can just skip over the chapter if you want to continue reading the story.
> 
> Thank you for at least getting this far, and please take care.

Since the fight with Liam in the dining hall, they haven’t fought again. Though Louis did not follow Harry’s advice. Instead, he has been ignoring Liam outright. For his part, Liam has been doing the same. Now they don’t talk even to complain, there’s not even a nod in acknowledgement when one of them walks into the room. They live as if the other simply does not exist, and Louis couldn’t be happier.

Except, that isn’t completely true. Even though he’s happy to ignore Liam, the other boy still occupies his thoughts. And just because he pretends the boy doesn’t exist to his face doesn’t mean that Louis can’t glare daggers at him when his back is turned.

The thing is, Louis really can’t afford to spend so much time on Liam. Now that the semester is about half over, classes have kicked into high gear. He has more work than hours in the day and midterms are coming up fast. With all his normal anxiety, piling on the stress of dealing with his roommate is just too much. 

He kicks open his room door and throws his bag on his bed. Luckily, it’s Friday night and Liam has late classes. He sits at his desk and pulls out his notebooks and computer. However, after only a few minutes of work, his eyes catch on the paper sticking out of his bag. 

Closing his computer, Louis turns his attention to the change of roommate request form. With a sigh, he starts to fill it out. Although it’ll be a headache to have to change rooms, he just can’t live with Liam anymore. He needs to be able to focus on things that are not Liam, with his annoying running and stupid birthmark.

The buzzing of his phone pulls him out of his thoughts. He stares at it for a minute confused. Harry and Niall are both busy tonight and no one else really ever texts him.

TJ: hey i’m here, let me in

Louis sighs remembering that the two of them made plans to watch a movie together after they met at the club meeting. Though he was originally taken in by the guy, after texting for a while he realized that TJ didn’t have much charm without his looks. The boy had a habit of saying things that at best were jokes in poor taste and at worst chauvinistic bordering on bigoted.

Still, Louis gets up from his seat and quickly shoves everything on his desk into a drawer he never uses. If the guy’s already here, it’s too late to back out now. He runs down the four flights of stairs to open the side door. 

TJ gives Louis a pointed smile, his hair pressed damply against his head, and slowly drags his eyes over him before stepping close in the threshold. Taking a step back, Louis puts on a smile in return. “Hey, sorry about the wait, I was just finishing up some work.”

“No problem, I know how it is. After you.” TJ gestures towards the staircase in front of them and Louis starts to climb. 

Their echoing footsteps on the tile stairs are the only sound for the first two flights. The silence between them starts to grow awkward so Louis tries to break it. “Is it raining out there?” Talking about the weather, good going Louis he thinks to himself. 

Behind him, TJ gives a short laugh, “Yeah, it just started, probably going to get worse”. The conversation stops there, but at least they made it to Louis’ room. He fishes the key from his pocket and holds the door open for TJ. 

Inside the room, TJ gives a look around, particularly at Liam’s posters and the small plush cat on Louis’ bed that Harry gave him last year for his birthday (admittedly a strange gift for a college student, but thoughtful nonetheless). Louis is struck by how out of place the other boy looks. No one had been in the room besides him and Liam so far, not even Niall or Harry. Having someone else in them, room felt odd, almost wrong.

“Wow, your rooms a lot smaller than mine.” TJ said. Louis shakes the feeling off and drops his keys on his desk.

“Yeah, it’s nothing special. Too bad we couldn’t get the club room tonight, would’ve been better for the movie.”

TJ sets down his bag and gives a small smirk, “Yeah, I couldn’t swing it. Besides this way is nice, more private.”

Louis nods, not really paying attention. He climbs on his bed, the only place really suited for movie watching. TJ sits down next to him, pushing aside the toy cat, which falls to the floor. Louis thinks about picking it up, but TJ already has the movie ready on his laptop balanced on the edge of the bed. 

The film starts and Louis finds himself engrossed in it. Whenever he watches a movie, he tends to forget his surroundings. Especially this one, being one of his favorites.

About halfway through, though, TJ reaches over and pauses the movie. Louis looks at him confused, “What’s wrong, do you need to go to the bathroom or something?”

TJ chuckles under his breath, putting one hand on Louis’ knee and the other under his chin. When did he get so close? Louis thinks. “You have really pretty eyes, you know that?”

Before Louis can get out a reply lips are being pressed against his. The kiss isn’t slow or gentle, rather it is rough and demanding TJ’s tongue quickly prodding, forcing entrance into Louis’ mouth. Louis goes stiff against the intrusion before brining limp hands up to push the other boy away.

Louis stares at him with a mix of shock and indignation. “What… what are you doing?” He stammers after a beat.

TJ gives him a greasy smirk and responds, “What do you think?” then attaches himself onto Louis’ lips again, pushing him down to lie on the bed. Mentally Louis smacks himself. How could he have not read the signs? Insisting on meeting in Louis’ room, always being a bit too close, having a keen interest in how long Liam would be away, Louis knows this play. Honestly, it is probably one of the oldest tricks in the book. But while he becomes aware of that he also realizes not only how much he doesn’t want this to continue, but also how little he wants to be around this person in any capacity.

He jerks his head to the side to free his lips and pushes against the body on top of him. “No, stop.” He says as firmly as he is able. TJ smiles that greasy smile again, wrapping a hand tight around Louis’ wrists. His mouth finds itself against Louis neck, harshly licking it then biting sharply. 

Suddenly, Louis feels not only uncomfortable, but scared. His arms are pinned above him and TJ’s larger body is pressed tight against his. He lets out a shaky stream of “no” and “get off” but TJ takes this as and invitations to invade his mouth again with his. 

Louis’ mind starts racing yet he can’t form a clear thought. He can’t seem to will his body to move. He doesn’t even know how much time is passing; it could be minutes or hours. Somewhere along the way, both boys’ shirts were removed, probably now lying on the floor in a heap. Louis feels a hand on his waist roughly pulling down his pants.

Feeling his prickling in his eyes, Louis squeezes them shut. He will not cry, not in front of him. In the foggy, swirling vortex of his mind, Louis becomes acutely aware of some things. The overwhelming stench of TJ’s cheap cologne. The slimy drag of the tongue in his mouth, across his skin. The rubbing, pinching, gripping of unwanted hands. The sound of the undoing of a zipper.

“You, out now.” A firm voice rings out, penetrating Louis’ muddled mind. Abruptly, all TJ’s movements stop. 

“I said, out. Now.” The voice says again. Somewhere in his mind, a bell of recognition rings. He slowly opens his eyes and sees Liam standing on the other side of the room. But not just standing, standing and glaring the most aggressive look directly at TJ.

“Who the hell are you?” TJ says meeting Liam’s eyes his own annoyed and angry stare.  
“I live here. Now leave.” Liam takes a step forward.

“You leave, I’m in the middle of something.” TJ spits out with his signature pointed smirk.

Liam glances down at Louis, still frozen beneath the other boy, then scowls back at TJ. “No, I don’t think so. Now get out.”

TJ stands from the bed but shows no sign of moving. Louis takes this opportunity to sit up. He watches Liam take a couple more steps forward, slowly but with purpose. He picks up TJ’s shirt and throws it at him, never dropping eye contact.

Taking a confronting step, TJ draws close to Liam. He has a few inches of height advantage, but Liam has a bit more muscle mass. “You want me to leave? Make me.” TJ teases in challenge.

Liam glances back at Louis, now curled protectively in on himself. Turning his gaze back to the person in front of him, it grows impossibly darker. A beat of silence passes. 

Then, in a movement too quick for Louis to catch, Liam delivers a solid punch to TJ’s jaw. TJ staggers, a hand coming protectively to his face. Liam stands fists raised at the ready. “ Get out. Now.”

TJ stares Liam, then his eye quickly flit behind him to Louis. In a huff, he shrugs on his shirt and storms from the room, without another word.

As soon as the door slams shut, all aggression leaves Liam. He stands awkwardly in the middle of the room. The silence between the two boys grows tense. All at once, Louis grows restless. He jumps from to bed, scoops his shirt from the ground and fixes his clothes. His mind still feels like it’s running a mile a minute, and he has trouble concentrating on what to do next.

Liam sets his bag down and starts to unpack his things. He also starts to talk. He rambles on about nothing; a show he started, a cute dog he saw, an assignment due for class; just talking and doing unnecessary small tasks on his side of the room. Having something filling the silence makes it easier for Louis to think. He tries to remember what exactly happened. He tries to regain control of his scattered thoughts.

After about twenty minutes of Louis standing in the middle of the room thinking, while Liam chatters on in the background, the haze finally clears. Louis looks over to his bed and phantom touches brush across his body. He needs to sit down, but not on his bed, not now, and his desk chair seems so far away in the tiny room. He feels himself collapse to the ground.

Suddenly, he feels nauseous. The tears that have been threatening all night finally make their way out. Liam stops talking in the middle of his sentence and looks to Louis. After a moment of hesitation, he sits down by Louis. Gently he takes Louis’ hands in his own and traces slow circles on the back of them. His hands are damp and cool. Through his tears, he notices that Liam’s hair is soaking wet. It must have really started raining, he thinks absently.

He doesn’t talk while Louis cries, just continuing his slow circles. Louis cries until the tears stop coming and he has a headache. He takes a few ragged breaths before speaking. “I’m really pathetic, aren’t I?”

Liam’s fingers stop their pattern but don’t drop Louis’ hands. “Not at all,” he says softly.

Louis snorts. “Yes, I am.” He insists. “I was an idiot for not recognizing what was happening sooner. And when it did start I was too weak to stop it.” 

Feeling utterly defeated, Louis sighs. “I know I’m not very strong or smart, but I always thought that if the time ever came I would at least be able to get myself out of it. And instead I just sat there, useless, like a scared rabbit.” 

The grip on his hands tightens. “Stop. It’s not your fault.” Liam reassures him firmly. “I know we don’t talk much, but I’ve lived with you for a while now. I know that you are smart, and strong, and determined, and good. And I know that what happened tonight”, Liam shifts so that Louis is forced to look at him, “was not your fault.”

Louis wants to argue. To point out that he and Liam have always hated each other, that they’ve rarely had a conversation that didn’t end in yelling. But Liam’s eyes, at this moment, are so confident, so sincere, that none of these points seem to matter. 

Liam gives him a small smile “Plus, you did get yourself out of it. You just used me to do it.” Seeing Louis’ confused look, Liam pulls out his phone. Opening up the texts, he hands it to Louis.

Louis doesn’t remember sending it. He doesn’t know how he could have. But there on Liam’s phone is a short message from Louis’ own number. It is only one word long, ‘roomie’.

He doesn’t think about what the text means. He doesn’t think about how Liam had run back to the dorm in the pouring rain for nothing more than a text of a stupid emergency code word they made up half a semester ago. He doesn’t think about how Liam was supposed to be in classes and meetings all night, that he should be there now. He will have these thoughts tomorrow and the next day. They will keep him up at night. But right now, he doesn’t think because everything is just too much. Instead, he finds more tears and cries.

Liam gently takes his phone from Louis’ hands and places it to the side. Tentatively, he pulls Louis into his arms. Together they sit on the old, sticky carpet of their tiny dorm room until neither of them can feel their legs. Every time Louis mutters about him being pathetic, Liam assures him he’s not.

When they finally do stand up, Louis hurriedly grabs some clothes and runs to the bathroom. He turns the shower as hot as it will go and stands under the spray. For nearly two hours, he scrubs his skin until it’s raw and pink. But it’s not enough. He can still feel the rough fingers on him. He rinses out his mouth countless times but he still feels the slick movements of an invasive tongue. Not matter how hard he washes the hand shaped marks on his wrists will bruise along with the red bite on his neck.

Looking at himself under the now cold water, Louis can’t stop the self-deprecating thoughts from taking over his mind. Almost. In the back of his thoughts remains a little voice, which sounds a lot like the roommate he claims to hate, reminding him ‘it’s not your fault’.

Louis forces himself out of the shower and into his baggy t-shirt and sweat pants. He opens the door slowly and looks at Liam’s bed. The boy is lying under his covers facing the wall, but Louis suspects he is not asleep.

Walking towards his own bed, Louis stops. He doesn’t know how he’ll sleep in that bed now. His body starts to shake as he bends down to retrieve his plush cat from the floor. Clutching it, he pulls back the blanket and braces himself for a restless night engulfed in the scent of cheap cologne.

But as he lies down, he smells something else instead. He smells lavender, artificial and soapy, like the detergent he mocked Liam for using on multiple occasions. He pulls the blanket up around him and quickly falls into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this might have been a bit different than the rest. It was a bit hard for me to write, but for personal reasons I needed to. Thank you for any support you give, it really brightens my day.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day Louis wakes up well past noon to an empty room. Despite getting more sleep than usual, his body still feels sluggish and tired. He wants nothing more than to wrap himself up in his warm, scented sheets and never get up. And, even with a pile of work waiting to be finished, he does just that.

Opening his laptop, he lets himself fall down the rabbit hole that is YouTube. He watches videos until the sun is setting, trying to occupy his mind with countless mini food cooking and slime DIYs. But it doesn’t work. Every couple of minutes he has to shake away lingering phantom touches or quiet the self-deprecating rant in his head.

But the place his mind returns to most is Liam. For as long as they have known each other, they’ve hated each other. They fight constantly, the drive each other crazy, Louis has an entire list of reasons why he hates the guy, but last night Liam helped him. He can’t help but wonder if he would have done the same for someone he hated. Would he have dropped everything he was doing at the mention of a single word? 

Louis concentrates on his computer again, too tired to try to answer the questions he’s asking himself. 

A couple videos later, he hears someone walk in the room. Louis doesn’t have to look up to know that it’s Liam. He can feel the other boy’s eyes on him. With a sigh he pauses the video and looks at Liam expectantly.

“They were giving these out in the lobby” Liam fumbles with his bag before handing Louis something wrapped in a napkin.

“Thanks” he says placing the object on his desk.

A beat of tense silence passes before Liam speaks again. “Hey Louis, I know we’re not really friends but I think you should talk to someone about, you know. Not me, I get that, I mean we don’t really like each other anyway, but someone. Maybe Harry or Niall, you’re friends with them, right? Or your mom, I know how close you guys are. I mean you call her all the time and-“

“You’re rambling.” Louis says curtly, cutting Liam off. 

Liam rubs his neck unsure. “Yeah, I just, I don’t know. You might feel better if you talk to someone.”

Louis wants to lie and say he’s fine, but one look at Liam and he knows the other boy would call him on it. Instead, just turns his attention back to his laptop and grumbles, “maybe”.

The video starts playing again and soon he hears the shower running and Liam’s music playing. Louis reaches for the napkin wrapped object, opening it to reveal two chocolate chip cookies. Looking at them his stomach rumbles reminding him that he hasn’t eaten all day. 

Nibbling on one of the cookies, Louis thinks if he should talk to someone. He does usually tell his mom everything, but she already worries about him going to uni so far from home and he doesn’t want to worry her anymore. He could call Harry, but he knows that he shouldn’t burden one of the only real friends he has. Plus, it’s already late; surely in the morning he’ll be fine.

Louis pulls on his headphones on and buries himself under his blanket with the remaining cookie letting himself be swallowed by the YouTube vortex again.

\-----------------------------------

Louis wakes up determined. Determined to get over everything that happened the last couple days and get back to his loud, slightly obnoxious self. He gets out of bed and shoots Niall a text asking if the blonde wanted to go have a bit of a kick about. 

As soon as the other boy agrees, Louis changes out of the clothes he’d been wearing for the past day and practically runs outside. 

The day is clear and unseasonably warm, once the sun gets a bit higher in the sky he knows the heat will get uncomfortable and sticky. But a smile still spreads across his face, just being outside of his room makes him feel better and more like himself. 

“Hey Lou, heads up!” 

Louis looks up just as the ball is about to hit him in the face. He manages to catch it giving a teasing glare to the blonde who is trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile.

Soon they’re engrossed in an intense game that is little more than stealing the ball and trying to hit the other with it. At one point, a dog pulls away from his owner and grabs the ball running away with it. It takes them nearly twenty minutes to chase him down and retrieve the slightly drool covered ball and get back to their game.

Only when the boys realize that their running has turned into more of a power walk do they decide to take a break under a nearby tree. The day has grown hot, and both boys are breathing heavy and sweating. 

Louis feels something cold and wet hit the back of his neck and jumps at the feel of it. Craning his neck back, he sees Harry standing over him holding two water bottles with a cheeky grin. “You little sneak, where’d you come from.” Louis asks, grabbing one of the bottles.

“I came out a little while ago, didn’t mean to scare you.” Harry replies with a smirk, handing the other bottle to his giggling boyfriend.

“I wasn’t scared. I’m a man, nothing scares me.”

Harry rolls his eyes at him, “Oh yeah, and that was a very manly yelp you just made.”

Unable to come up with a good comeback, Louis settles for a glare and drinks half the water. The three of them sit in the shade and talk for a while about nothing of more importance than a hard assignment or annoying professor. Louis laughs easily and interjects with his usual breed of sarcastic comments as if he didn’t spend the past day hiding under his covers in the dark. He feels good and happy.

That is until Niall turns to him and asks “What happened to you yesterday? Weren’t you going to come over and play FIFA?”

Just like that, the good feeling Louis had comes crashing down and his mind starts running a mile a minute. He has flashes of touches and tears and endless YouTube spirals. But before the thoughts can consume his mind, he looks over to see his friends gazing at him expectantly and a familiar voice in his head says you should just tell them, you might feel better.

Louis opens his mouth and for half a second he thinks he will say it, but instead what comes out is “ Yeah, I completely forgot mate”. Louis forces his smile to become something happy and playful once again, “Sorry for leaving you with this horrible player.”

Harry gapes at Louis’ gesture to him, “I’ll have you know I’ve gotten really good at that game. I’ve been practicing.”

“Harry, there’s something I’ve been meaning to say,” Niall takes his hand, his voice full of mock sincerity “you’re absolutely rubbish at FIFA.”

And the playful banter and easy conversation returns. Louis lets himself be swept back into it, letting only a small piece of his mind debate the consequences of not telling his friends. But as they stand up some time later to go their separate ways, Louis is happy once again.

Just before they say their goodbyes Niall remarks, “You know, I think this is the first time you didn’t complain about your roommate.”

“Well things are pretty much the same.” Louis replies a bit too quickly. He sees Harry quirk an eyebrow at him and he rushes to clarify. “He is insufferable in every sense of the word, absolutely horrid.”

Niall laughs and Harry shakes his head before they both say their goodbyes and walk off hand in hand. Louis watches them for a moment then turns the other way to go back to his room.

On the way he calls up his old list of reasons why he hates Liam. His early morning runs, the loud music he plays in the shower, that irritating birthmark on his neck. But despite knowing his list holds countless other points, Louis can’t recall them. Instead, his mind is filled with the taste of chocolate chip cookies and the smell of artificial lavender.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know not to much happened in this chapter, but I felt like it needed it. Thank you again for sticking with me, I know the updates have been slow. But I can honestly say that your feedback and comments are the reason I write them at all. So thanks again and please tell me what you think, no matter what it is.


	6. Chapter 6

The next week is good for Louis. Classes and friends help keep his mind occupied until by the end of the week he realizes that he hadn’t thought about the incident in days. He feels good without trying and he finally feels like his old self.

Even he and Liam are mostly back to their original state of pretending the other doesn’t exist. Or more precisely, they’ve gone back to not speaking while Louis pointedly ignores the occasional concerned look from Liam. It’s not exactly perfect, but it’s easier than confronting the questions lingering in the back of Louis’ mind.

He wakes up Saturday morning and works a bit on an assignment he needed to finish. After a while he hears a notification from his phone. Looking at it, he sees it’s a reminder for film club later. Last week he completely forgot about it, his mind occupied by other things, but now he has no excuse not to go. Except that TJ might be there.

He spends the next couple hours trying to finish his work, but his mind keeps wandering to the club meeting. The thing is, he wants to go. Film club has been his sanctuary from the stress of school. Letting him do something he loves surrounded by other people who love the same thing. Usually he’s so eager to get there that he arrives twenty minutes early just to chat to the others.

On the other hand, he’s just getting to a place where he can forget about what happened. He’s just able to put how pathetic he felt behind him and feel like himself again. But if TJ is there, if he touches him or talks to him, even if he just looks at him with those eyes, Louis knows that he’ll be right back to where he started. He knows he should be the bigger man and just suck it up, but he doesn’t know if he can pull himself out again.

The time that he has to leave arrives and Louis still hasn’t reached a decision. Then the door to the room opens and Liam walks in looking a bit hesitant. Louis stares at him, confused before asking “Why are you here? Don’t you usually have stuff to do on Saturdays?” But Louis knows he does. It’s another reason he usually looks forward to this day because Liam spends nearly all of it out of the room.

Liam shifts a bit as if he doesn’t really know what to say, “well, yeah,” he finally says. Louis stares at him, unimpressed. “But, I was wondering if I could go to film club with you. Your always talking about how great it is and I like movies.”

Liam and Louis stare at each other for a minute. They both know why Liam is asking to go to Louis’ club today of all days, why he’s even asking at all. But Louis doesn’t question it because for some reason he feels better about going if Liam is there too. He looks at the other boy who still seems a bit unsure, and stands pocketing his phone. “Well come on then, we’ll be late.”

The walk over is silent and tense. Louis suddenly doesn’t know how he should stand, if he should walk right next to Liam or a little bit in front, if he should try some small talk. He realizes that he’s never actually walked anywhere with him before and never talked without yelling or crying. In the end, he decides to do nothing and be grateful that the walk is a short one.

When they get in the clubroom it is already full and there’s a quiet buzz of conversation. There’s not long before the meeting starts so Louis just exchanges a few quick greetings before leading Liam to an empty row of seats. Liam sits against the wall and Louis sits next to him, slowly surveying the room. He lets out a sigh of relief when he doesn’t see TJ.

“So, um, how does this work?” Liam asks looking at Louis.

Louis turns to him and starts to explain, “Well, in a few minutes the club president, him up there with the blue hair, will go over any upcoming events and then introduce the movie. We all voted on the types of movies we want to watch, I think this week is The Princess Bride. Then we watch the movie and the one rule is that you can’t talk during it. Seriously, if you do we’ll both get kicked out.”

Louis hears someone sit down, and he glances of his shoulder. His breath catches when he sees that it is TJ sitting next to him and giving him a pointed smile. Louis digs his nails into his thigh and swallows before turning back to Liam. “And that’s pretty much it. Afterwards we all talk about the movie then he meeting is over.”

Liam looks between him and TJ, his lips pressed into a thin line. “Oh, that sounds cool.” His voice is tight. It sounds like how it gets just before he starts yelling, usually at Louis. Then his eyes flicker down to where Louis is clenching his leg white knuckled. When he speaks again his voice is notably calmer. “Hey, do you think you could switch seats with me? I don’t know if I can really see from here.”

Louis’ grip loosens a bit and nods, feeling much better with Liam between him and TJ. He also sees TJ’s smile drop, the boy apparently hadn’t recognized Liam until just then. Before anything else is said the club president gets up and the movie starts.

Louis had already seen this movie, and although he probably would say that it’s one of his favorites, he doesn’t know if he’s ever enjoyed it as much as Liam. The other boy lets out little gasps and mumbles at all the right moments, even laughing out loud at one of the jokes. Usually, Louis would find this kind of thing annoying, but with Liam, he finds it entertaining. Seeing the boy is so absorbed in the movie makes Louis forget not only who is sitting on the other side of him, but that they’re in the clubroom at all. 

When the ending does come and the lights are turned back on, Liam turns to him with a smile. “That was so good! I wasn’t really expecting that from the title, but it was actually really funny and sweet.” Louis nods along as Liam basically gives a synopsis of the movie, interjecting a few comments of his own.

When everyone gets up to leave Louis feels a hand grab his wrist. TJ holds him as the room empties out. Louis sees Liam a few steps away opening his mouth to say something. But Louis suddenly feels the courage that he was lacking before and shakes his head stopping Liam. He turns to TJ, standing up straight and looking him in the eye.

TJ looks him up and down, giving another of his pointed smiles. “Where were you going? Come with me, let’s have some fun.”

“No, I don’t think I will.” Louis says, pulling his wrist from the other boy’s hand. “I don’t know what you were thinking, but last time was not good or fun for me.”

“Well yeah,” TJ stepped closer, smile growing “that’s because your horrible roommate came before we could have any.”

Louis reaches out a firm hand and pushes TJ away, his eyes hard and angry. “Liam came because I called him to get you away. I wasn’t ‘having fun’ and I told you to stop. You need to fucking learn about consent, if someone says no, it means you need to stop. “ Louis was struggling now to keep from yelling. “Now stay away from me. I don’t want to ever see you again.”

With that Louis turns around and heads out of the room, Liam close behind with a proud grin on his face. Once they get out of the building Louis slumps against the wall, head down. Liam stops in front of him, looking worried “Are you ok?”

Louis looks up at him, a huge smile stretched across his face, “Honestly I’ve never felt better.” Liam stares for a second before returning it with a smile of his own.

Louis can’t tell what changed between them, but he knows that somehow, something did. The walk back to their room is drastically different than the on before. They fall in step with each other naturally, conversation flowing. For the first time they don’t get angry with each other or dwell on the conversation with TJ. Instead, they talk about the club and their favorite movies, Louis dramatically laments how few films Liam has seen and his teases are met with bitten back smiles and sparkling eyes. 

In the back of his mind, Louis realizes that to an outsider they would look like any other pair of friends out on a Saturday night, heads bent close in conversation. And as they draw closer to their dorm he finds himself wishing that the walk was farther just so they could keep talking. 

Before they reach the building, Louis gets a text from Niall and he gets an idea. “Hey Liam,” he says cutting the other boy off mid sentence “Harry and Niall just invited me out for some drinks.”

The smile on Liam’s face falters a bit and his voice is flat when he responds. “Oh, ok. Have fun.”

He continues to walk away in the direction of the room but only gets a couple steps before Louis grabs his wrist. Pulling him around to face him, Louis speaks with what he hopes is an encouraging tone. “I meant that you should come with me.”

Liam looks shocked then hesitant, trying limply to pull away from Louis, no doubt remembering the last time he met his friends. Louis continues on stopping his protests. “Come on, they’re good people you’ll like them. Think of it as my way of saying thanks for really helping me out this past week. I don’t know what I would have done without it.” He pulls Liam’s wrist a bit to emphasis his point, hoping that he can hear his sincerity.

Liam looks down but doesn’t try to pull away again. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad I could help.”

Sighing, Louis decides to change tactics. “Fine, then forget about that and have some drinks with me and my friends. Come on, I want you to be there.”

Liam stares at him with a blank expression. He tightens his grip on his wrist. Suddenly he’s nervous that Liam will say no and they’ll go back to ignoring each other. He tightens his grip on his wrist, not really sure why he can hear his heart pounding or why it only seems to get louder when Liam smiles at him and agrees.

They change direction and walk the couple of blocks to the pub. It’s a small hole in the wall type place, more attractive to middle-aged men than the usual college crowd. But that just means that they can get a couple of drinks without having to fight through noisy crowds of twenty-somethings to do it.

“Hey Lou!” Niall calls from a table in the corner, waving him over excitedly, obviously having started drinking without him. Next to him, Harry shakes his head fondly.

He waves in acknowledgement getting a couple pints from the bar, making sure Liam is following him with every step.

“Hey Louis,” Harry greets as they sit down. “And Liam.” He does a good job of keeping the surprise out of his voice, but Louis catches the questioning glances both his friends throw at him.

Before any questions can be asked, Louis diverts the conversation. “So Liam came with me to film club, you know he’d never seen The Princess Bride?” Thankfully, Harry picks up on what he is trying to do and launches a barrage of questions at Liam about what he thought of the movie.

The four of them talk easily as if this was a normal thing they did as a group. Until Liam excused himself to the bathroom and Louis had two sets of curious eyes trained on him.

“So, this friendship is new then?” Harry asked, his usual slow drawl hinting at more meaning behind his words.

“Yeah, last we heard you thought he was ‘insufferable in every sense of the word’ and now you’re taking him to movies and drinks.” Niall adds, matching teasing tones with Harry.

Louis glares at his friends, dismissively saying, “Yeah, well now we get on.”

The others continue looking at him expectantly. He knows that they deserve to know the full story, he just doesn’t know if he can go into it all right now. But maybe just a little. He sighs, speaking again in a softer voice, “Ok, so a little while ago I got into a bad situation with this guy and Liam stopped it before it got any worse. He’s been helping me since and I guess he’s not that bad of a guy.”

He can see all the questions his friends want to ask about what happened and how bad it got and why he didn’t come to them, though they don’t ask any of them. They all know that eventually everything will come out but right now they just nod, accept it and move on.

When Harry opens his mouth again his eyes are playful, “So I’m guessing you don’t hate him anymore?”

Louis shakes his head and hides a fond smile in his drink. Niall sees it though and laughs, “Feel something else, huh? I mean he is pretty fit and they say it’s a thin line between love and hate.”

Louis almost chokes on his drink gaining more laughs from Niall and Harry. He smacks the blonde in the shoulder. “I just said I could stands the guy, not that I love him.” He puts everything he has in the statement, not allowing himself to even entertain thinking about his feelings towards Liam like that. He adds muttering under his breath, “Anyway, I don’t even know if he’s gay.”

After the others finish laughing, Harry looks him in the eye, smiling but sincere, “Well I’m glad your not trying to kill each other anymore, Liam seems like a really great guy.” He sees Niall nod, smiling in agreement and Louis feels a bundle of nerves he didn’t know he had relax.

When Liam returns to the table, bringing the next round of drinks with him, Louis can’t help but smile. The four of them continue to talk and drink until the all feel pleasantly fuzzy headed.

They say their goodbyes at the door with overly enthusiastic hugs unique to those slightly more than tipsy. Louis watches fondly as his two friends walk away swinging their clasped hands between them. 

“Their quite sweet together.” He hears Liam remark. Looking over he sees the other boy watching the retreating couple with a warm smile. Louis couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Louis pulls his arms close around himself silently cursing himself for not brining a jacket. He turns towards the dorms and brushing past Liam “Let’s go, it’s bloody freezing out here.”

He looks at Louis curled up against the cold late night weather and shakes his head. “Here,” he says shrugging off his own jacket and handing it to Louis.

Shocked, Louis flits his gaze between the jacket and Liam before giving a stubborn huff “I don’t need that, I’m not a child.” He turns around and starts walking quickly away, ignoring the blush he can feel creeping up his cheeks, which definitely is from a combination of the drinks and the cold weather.

Liam rolls his eyes and jogs to catch up to Louis, throwing his jacket over the smaller boys shoulders. “Just take it,” he says, then adding teasingly, “if you don’t you’ll just be complaining all night anyway.” Louis glares at him but doesn’t say anything, pulling the jacket tighter around his body. It’s too big but it’s warm and smells like Liam’s cologne. Liam smiles knowing he won. “Now let’s get back, it’s bloody cold.”

Absently, Louis wonders what an outsider would think if they saw them walking this time. Two boys, late at night, walking probably a step to close to each other and a bit unsteady from the drinks and one clearly wearing the other’s jacket. Louis snorts at the obvious conclusion then pushes the thought away. He meant what he said, earlier, he does not think of Liam like that, he just got over hating the guy. He can’t give any of those thoughts space in his mind.

But he can enjoy the walk back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was thinking about splitting this up, but I really wanted to get to something cute, sorry. Plus there was a little communication, which is always good. Thank you for all your comments and kudos, they really mean a lot to me.


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